ABCs of Gross Motor Day 4: P-T

Welcome to Day 4 of the ABCs of Gross Motor. I will say some letters were harder than others and today has some of those.

P is for Play

Never mistake playing outside for a lack of gross motor. Simple areas can be perfect for play! Playgrounds are wonderful, but so is just running in a field. You never know when you will find a great way to make gross motor play. Challenge them to go down the slide 10 times. See how many times they can walk the balance beam. Try a new part of the playground they don’t normally use.

Q is for Quality

Quality vs quantity was something I heard a lot about when I was in school. The teachers had us repeat the same thing over and over to get the quantity they wanted. Often they were looking for us to develop quality.

So ask the question: how is the quality of the activity going? Are we focusing on quantity today? Will repeating something poorly help them learn? Make sure what they are doing is of good quality. When their attention starts to wander it might be time to move on rather than pushing for more.

R is for Running

Running is a great gross motor skill. It uses many different muscles. Kids, like adults, need to work their heart and running is a great way to do that. Have them run between different areas. Make it a challenge. When you have lots of kids don’t make it about winning. Have everyone run to the same spot, then pick a new spot.

S is for Sports

Sports are great for kids but not all kids are suited for them. You can still explore them at home. I do this with my girls a lot. We like to act out different sports. We will pretend to swim on the floor, ski down mountains, climb up ladders, play baseball, and practice our swings in tennis. There are many ways you can explore sports without ever leaving home.

T is for Teamwork

Teamwork is a great skill to learn. Not everything has to be about who comes in first or last. Make activities they have to work on together. We recently started doing Chinese Jumprope . Everyone takes a turn holding the rope and working together. When we don’t work together it is not as much fun. Relay races and three-legged races also work.

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be the end all of gross motor but just ideas that can be used and should not replace something else you are doing. This is not medical advice either.

About Cassie

Cassie is a mom of three stomping, romping, and roaring girls. She blogs about fun art and craft activities and printables she makes. She includes the odd review of products every now and then. She also blogs about the places that she has taken the girls called trip reviews. She has a few free printable pack for kids ages 2 to 8 and always adding more. She loves to get comments and feedback and always looking for new things to try or do with her girls.